Device for measuring cloth in the piece or roll



Patented Nov. 221864.

nniw PM.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM BEATON, OF GRINNELL, IOVA.

DEVICE FOR MEASURING CLOTH IN THE PIECE OR ROLL.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 45,13 I dated November22, 1864.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM BEATON, of Grinnelhin the county ofPoweshiek and State of Iowa, have invented a new and useful Improvementin Cloth -Measurers 5 and I do hereby declare that the following is afull, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable thoseskilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which-Figure 1 represents an elevation, partly in section, of a cloth-measurermade after my invention. Fig. 2 is a plan thereof, the bill beinguncovered so as to show the path of the tape.

Similar letters of reference indicate lik parts.

My invention consists in the construction of an implement by means ofwhich cloth and other materials put up in rolls can be measured in theroll, thereby saving the necessity of opening or unrolling a package orroll in order to measure its contents.

To a hollow circular box, I, is attached a handle, A, projecting on oneside therefrom in the line of its axis. A shaft, B, passes through thecenter of the handle and box, being secured in place by suitable washersat each of its ends. A measuring-tape, D, is attached to a reel on theshaft B within the box I, which latter is to be made of whatevercapacity the length and width of the tape requires. A bill, J, of awidth slightly exceeding the tape, extends from the outside of the box Iin a direction opposite to but parallel with the handle A. Its lengthshould be about that shown in the drawings. This bill has a longitudinalchannel, 0, cut in it, ex-

tending nearly to its end, across which two wire or other rods, (2 I),stretch at an angle of forty-five degrees at either end of the bill. Thechannel 0 communicates with the interior of the box I, so as to receivethe tape. The rod (1 is at the inner end of the bill, and

in such a position as to cross the reel of the tape, also at an angle offorty-five degrees, so that by bringing the tape over the rod (2 itspath is changed to a line at right angles to its position on the reel.The tape is then carried to the other end of the bill, through itschannel 0, to the rod I), over which it is carried and bent to a line atright-angles with its path through the bill. The inner face of the billis cut away opposite the rod b so as to permit the tape to pass out, asseen in Fig. 1, and that edge of the opening in the bill across whichthe tape is drawn when it is extended in a plane paralled to the planeof the bill is sunken so that the tape may pass out freely between theedge of the bill and any substance upon which the inner face of the billmay be pressed. The end of the tape is armed with hooks a.

The operation of the device and implement above described is as follows:When a roll of cloth or other material wound upon itself is to bemeasured, the hooks a are inserted into the cloth or other material atits central fold, a little way within the edge thereof, when the bill isinserted within the same fold up to the face of the box, and carried bymeans of the handle A, in the grasp of the operator, along thesuccessive folds until it arrives at the outside of the roll, the tapemeanwhile paying out as the instrument travels along, and lying upon orencircling the successive folds of the roll. When the bill emerges frombeneath the last fold the measurement of the cloth will be indicated bythe scale.

It is evident that the position of the wire or rod 1) determines thedirection in which the measurer is to operate. If it is placed at rightangles to its present position it will operate by moving the billthrough the folds in the opposite direction. The rod 1) may be madeadjustable to either position, or it may have a form similar to theletter V, its limbs being at right angles to each other, in which easethe measurer will Work from either direction. As this is an obviouschange requiring no invention beyond what I have already shown in theimplement, I have leftthe rod 6 single in this example of my invention.

The handle A may be made loose on the shaft B, so as to rotate thereon,if desired.

This implement can be applied to round rolls, to goods folded or Woundin a flat condition, and in any other Way so that the bill can beinserted in the fold.

The tape may be fiat, round, or of any other character.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent-.-

1. A eloth-measurer for measuring cloth and other materials in the rollor folds, substantially as described.

2. The hollow bill for inserting the tape in the folds of the goods tobe measured in the roll, in combination with the reel of the tape,substantially as described.

IVILL'IAM BEATON.

Vitnesses GnAs. H. SPENCER, ISRAEL S. SPENCER.

